Completed Project Overview

Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) - Dr John Connelly

This project developed an engineered in vitro model of wound healing and then used it to identify the factors that regulate wound closure. It established a novel platform that could replace many mouse studies and improve pre-clinical testing of drugs and therapeutics.

Project Outcomes

The aim of this research project was to develop an in vitro model of wound healing that could analyse many different regulatory factors in high-throughput and replace the use of animals in wound healing research. Thanks to the generous funding from the Animal Free Research UK and its supporters, we employed novel micro-fabrication techniques to print arrays of ‘micro-wounds’ within multi-well cell culture plates, and then used a light-based reaction to activate cell migration into the micro-wound area.

Representative images of wound closure before (0h) and after (8h) photo-activation with (left image) or without (right image) an efficient photo-coupler molecule that assists in the migration process to 'heal' the wound.

Home Office statistics from 2008 to 2012 indicate that a total of 300,666 animal procedures have been performed on the skin, the majority (81%) of these have been on mice. Of these, an estimate is that over the past five years approximately 25,000 procedures on mice and 30,000 procedures on all animals have been performed in the UK for wound healing studies.

Wound healing procedures performed on animals typically involve making one or more excisional or incisional wounds on the back and tracking wound closure over time both by gross observation and histology. Wounding procedures require general anaesthesia and are classified by the Home Office to have moderate severity. Complications can include pain, infection, dehydration, and death for the animals.

Upon successful optimisation and characterisation of this model system, we then performed a screen of 147 small molecules to identify novel regulators of human skin cell migration and wound repair. Through this analysis we discovered multiple compounds that blocked cell migration, as well as several that accelerated wound closure.

In addition to providing new insights into skin cell migration, this research has established a powerful new tool for wound healing research with several key advantages over animal models. The micro-wound model specifically examines human keratinocyte migration, which is an essential component of the wound healing process and distinctly different between humans and mice. Thus, this system may be more relevant to human wound healing.

Human skin and mouse skin heal through very different mechanisms. While mouse skin is generally looser and heals through contraction, human skin depends more on re-epithelialisation and migration of epidermal keratinocytes. As our model system specifically analyses human keratinocyte migration, it may therefore be more directly relevant to the re-epithelialisation aspect of human wound healing than animal studies.

Our model also allows for precise control over the shape and composition of the micro-wounds, which is not possible in vivo, and for multiple variables to be analysed in high-throughput.

In addition to scaling up the micro-patterning technology we also developed a new image analysis protocol for label-free detection and quantification of micro-wound closure. Establishment of this novel protocol was an important technological step because it allowed us to analyse cell migration with minimal perturbation of the cells and without the need for animal derived antibodies.

These unique features therefore provide greater tuneability and efficiency than is possible with animal studies. Given these clear advantages, we believe that the model system developed during this research project will lead to the replacement of many animals in wound healing research in the future.

1 in 8 women in the UK will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. In partnership with Breast Cancer UK we want to raise £90,000 to fund an innovative research project that will help us to prevent the disease in more people in the future.

We rely on our amazing fundraisers to raise funds in their community to fund our ground-breaking and innovative animal free research. Our fundraising groups across the UK are the perfect place to share fundraising and volunteering ideas, network with other supporters in your area, organise fundraising events and meet up. Find a group near you.

This project aims to assess the utility of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as a relevant model system for the pre-clinical testing of novel therapies to target cancer stem cells, especially in leukaemia. Currently, scientists rely on animals, such as mice, for the early or preclinical development of novel therapies in cancer.

The project’s objectives are to replace animal use in dental research by developing a 3D model of human gums that do not involve the use of any animal products. The model should be able to closely mimic the in vivo environment and model clinical outcomes for tooth root implants in vitro.

The team aim to produce a much more realistic cell culture model of drug uptake so that fewer animal experiments are needed, with the ultimate aim being to replace these altogether. Animal experiments for drug testing range from in vitro cell assays through to assays on excised animal tissue and chronic experiments in surgically modified dogs.

Scientists from Binghamton University in the USA have developed a re-usable multi-layer microfluidic device to model the human kidney. The model incorporates a porous growth substrate, physiological fluid flow, and also allows for the passive filtration of the glomerulus.

This project is developing novel, sensitive and animal-free cancer imaging probes as an effective replacement for antibody-based diagnostic reagents widely used in clinical laboratories. At present, most current clinical cancer diagnostic reagents are antibody based and rely on the use of animals. Antibodies are generated by injecting a specific target antigen into an animal host, which includes mice, rats, rabbits, goats, sheep, chickens or horses.

Dr Francis and her team have developed MRI as an alternative to animal techniques to study both the structure and function of healthy and diseased kidneys. Changes in kidney blood oxygenation and blood flow in healthy subjects and CKD patients will be measured using MRI and the findings will be compared with clinical measurements (blood samples and biopsies). Dr Francis aims to investigate whether MRI could be a reliable diagnostic tool for CKD.

This research on schwannomas and meningiomas used a unique human cell culture model using cells derived from surgical patients. This has led to the identification and testing of new, targeted therapies and the team have successfully translated their research into early clinical trials. This approach has allowed them to screen approved drugs directly and go straight into clinical trials, avoiding pre-clinical animal trials.

Every year, 8% of the population will be diagnosed with chronic pain but only two-thirds will recover. By collecting human nerve stem cells from discarded human teeth, this project will increase our understanding of how inflammation affects the nerve cells in the face and how this can lead to chronic pain, whilst replacing the use of animals.

The ARC, at the Blizard Institute QMUL, will provide a unique environment for scientists to work together to develop human-based models of skin, breast and prostate cancer, replacing mouse models. It also aims to inspire the next generation of scientists through education about animal free research.

In 2015, the number of animals used for the first time in procedures for scientific purposes was 4.07 million (4,069,349). The number of procedures that were conducted on animals is slightly higher at 4.14 million (4,142,631). These numbers, over the past few years have remained fairly similar with both the number of animals used and the number of procedures conducted hovering around the 4 million mark consistently.

With your help, we can free animals from laboratories for good.Our work is funded entirely by your generous support. Your donation helps to fund some of the most advanced and successful human-related techniques in many areas of medical research including cancer, Alzheimer's, asthma, heart and liver disease.

The use of animals in experimentation and testing in the UK is regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, known as ASPA. This Act states the legal provisions that have been created for the protection of animals used for experimental or other scientific purposes.